by James Sambo
The Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar has said that Nigeria will not break up in 2015, despite the fact that crisis is being forecasted during next year’s polls.
Also speaking in the same vein was Catholic Archbishop of Sokoto Diocese, Rev. Fr. Mathew Kukah, who expressed his optimisim in Nigeria remaining together beyond 2015.
The Sultan, represented by the Andoma of Doma in Nasarawa State, Alhaji Ahmadu Onawo, and Kukah, made the comments during a discussion on “Rekindling the Spirit and Culture of Volunteerism in Nigeria”, jointly organised by Kukah Centre and the Department of Mission and Dialogue, Catholic Secretariat of Nigeria.
The Sultan said, “The ordinary man in Nigeria loves this country, the ordinary man in Nigeria believes in the indivisibility of this country. The ordinary man in Nigeria believes that Nigeria must remain one and united always. There is no division among Nigerians because we go to the same market, irrespective of religion; same hospital, without knowing who the doctor or nurse is and his religion. We have one shared aspiration, one nation and one people who exist in peace and supportive of each other.”
“We have always prayed that nothing divides this country. We have ways prayed that God sustains Nigeria and Nigerians in unity and as brothers and by the grace of God nothing will happen to Nigeria. In 2015, Nigeria will remain one indivisible nation. It is not anybody’s evil prophecy that has kept us together but God. For politicians, let’s fear God and allow the will of God to be done.”
According to Kukah, Nigeria had become severely fractured, and it was the responsibility of every Nigerians to deal with the issues, saying: “It is our responsibility as victims to take very seriously the issues of our own security.”
He said, “Everyday defines who we are and the future of this country is not tied to a date. People have always moved in Nigeria; they moved in 2011 and nothing happened. They moved in 1993 elections and nothing happened. Those who are moving in different directions will be disappointed because this is our country and from what I have heard from the Independent National Electoral Commission, we have no reason to doubt INEC.”
“The commission has done a few things pretty well, which suggests to me that a lot of the areas that tend to portend violence in Nigeria will soon be a thing of the past. The most important thing to us is for INEC to educate Nigerians on the options that are now available. I urge the citizenry to take their minds away from the thinking that Nigeria is going to break in 2015. We are still in 2014 and still have two to three months to go. The key political actors are aspiring but nobody knows who will be there in 2015.”
thats why i dislike religion, they wont say the truth
good words from the sultan
issoarai, lets all wait t till then
this forth election go mad gan
we hope so
nigeria has indeed been fractured
no be mouth, we need to work it out
serious something
lets pray 2015 wont be the end of nigeria
it wii break if goodluck dosent vacate that seat
What has he done absolutely wrong compared to other previous leaders that makes it imperative for him to vacate! If he vacates that means the country will essentially come to a halt cos prior to now the northern political bigwigs threatened that they were gonna make his reign un-governable and they lived true to their words! Then also the Niger Delta Militants will live well to their own threat if the north succeeds in threatening him out. That quite simple..then we’ll see a gradual collapse of the country.
well said
mschwww, these people wont be realistic with themselves
amen, thats our prayer
it wont break if we do right thing